Ebenezer Owusu-Sekyere

Tug of war: street trading and city governance in Kumasi, Ghana

ABSTRACT Kumasi, Ghana, has witnessed accelerated population growth in the past two decades, leading to a significant increase in joblessness following years of economic decline and labour market liberalisation. As a survival strategy, residents have resorted to street trading, making it an important source of livelihood. However, its associated implications for urban governance and management has placed city authorities in the spotlight over the years. Examining the daily struggles that occur between city managers and street traders, this article finds that various strategies adopted by city authorities to decongest the streets have proved futile. Rethinking what could be a sustainable strategy for decongesting the streets of traders, the article concludes that chasing the traders out of the streets is not the panacea to solving the problem unless well coordinated land-use planning and appropriate regulations are competently enforced.

Contextual Issues in Health Care Financing in Africa: Drawing on the Ghanaian Experience

The search for appropriate policy of financing healthcare in Africa in general is far from over. However, Ghana, unlike many of the emerging economies in sub-Sahara Africa, has made great strides in this area of policy formulation and development with the introduction of a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). Ghana’s search for an acceptable policy on healthcare financing dates back to the colonial era and the immediate post-independence period through the ‘cash and carry’ system to the present health insurance regime, which is still seeking refinement to meet the hopes and aspirations of many Ghanaians. The main objective of the NHIS is to provide equitable and universal access to essential healthcare for all citizens. This paper examines the tortuous path of health care financing policies in Ghana by outlining its historical antecedents and current perspectives.

Landfill externalities and property values dilemma – emerging insights from three Ghanaian cities

ABSTRACT Though debates about the negative impact landfill exerts on land and property values are by no means historically new, research into the case of developing countries has only recently begun. This article attempts to synthesise existing literature on the subject through the analysis of three case studies to enhance our understanding, especially the contextual conditions surrounding the relationship. Applying this theoretical framework to the disposal practices occurring in three cities in Ghana, this article offers insight into the culpability of landfills in negatively impacting property values. In an illuminating analysis, we argue that most engineered landfills in the country serve as a catalyst in correcting the ills of uncontrolled urbanisation (governance, attitudinal and financial constraints, etc.). We opine that landfills’ relationship with host communities must be understood in relation to our overall underdevelopment, coupled with the increasing economic and technical challenges shaping much of the country’s history.

Urban space renaissance of a developing country city

ABSTRACT African Governments are envisioning their cities in the images of world-class cities elsewhere. This has led to relentless inner-city regeneration but with some challenges. This article examines these challenges and their implications for urban development in the Ghanaian context. Through multiple research techniques, Ghana’s inner-city regeneration revealed contradictions and distortions typified by contestations and dispossessions. The challenges we argue were the offshoot of poor governance with limited community participation in the process, a situation which reflects how urban development is framed in a developing country city. To decipher the challenges will require innovative solutions premised on an all-inclusive urban governance approach.

Begging in the City: Complexities, Degree of Organization, and Embedded Risks

Until recently and despite its familiarity, begging in Ghanaian cities had been considered worthy of little attention. Despite the best efforts of a few academics to highlight the motives of beggars, critical analysis of the begging phenomenon within the spectrum of urban livelihood remains embryonic. This article unpacks the complexities, degree of organization, and embedded risks in street begging involving children in Kumasi, Ghana. The article draws on empirical evidence from 55 conveniently selected child beggars from five heavily congested locations and presents extensive review of existing scholarships on the phenomenon. The results reveal that child beggars adopt varied operational strategies to woo public sympathy. Begging strategies are mapped by adult escort who also counts the money as it is made. For many, begging has increasingly become a socially and economically constituted process that mediates how they deal with poverty and livelihood challenges. The beggars are also daily exposed to risky encounters but without any protection. We argue that stopping the phenomenon will require innovative approaches that go beyond conventional legislations.